One Friday in November of 2008, the care home buses began pulling up to the curb outside the Wesley Covenant Chapel of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas. Volunteers moved forward to greet those arriving, welcoming, and escorting each to their seat. Walkers, wheelchairs, and canes were plentiful, as was joy, peace, and care as frail people came to church to worship. One woman got off her memory care bus, agitated, a little confused, and balking at moving forward. She said to me, "I don't know where I am," followed by "I don't know why I'm here." I gently told her, "It's OK, you're at church, come on in."

As we walked into the Narthex, she said again, "I don't know why I'm here." I said, "Look inside." She peered into the chapel, her eyes resting on the large cross hanging on the opposite wall. Her face lit up in joy and she said, "There it is! Now I know why I'm here!" She found a seat, sang along with the old, familiar hymns, heard the reading of Scripture, listened to the Thanksgiving message, prayed The Lord's Prayer and received Communion. When she left, she may not have remembered everything, but in that sacred space, she was reconnected with a church family, able to worship, and move toward healing and wholeness through the love of Jesus Christ.

Silver Link Ministries at Church of the Resurrection is a Congregational Care ministry that reaches out to the frail -- the homebound, those in care homes, persons with dementia or on hospice -- with worship and care. The purpose of Silver Link mirrors that of the Church of the Resurrection, which is to be a Christian community where non-religious or nominally religious people are becoming deeply committed Christians. In Silver Link, this purpose is furthered by helping people remember their faith tradition as well as "re-member" into a family of faith, and remind ("re-mind") them of the love of Jesus Christ.

Worship is a primary means Silver Link uses to fulfill this purpose. The ministry offers once-a-month worship services in twenty different care facilities to reach people who may never have been to church, those who are currently disconnected from their church, and our church family who reside there. The services are held at all "levels of care," including independent living, assisted living, skilled nursing and dementia care. Most services have volunteer worship teams including a pianist, song leader, and Communion servers, and are officiated by Silver Link staff of Michael Maroon and Joe McColligan, St. Paul's School of Theology students and Silver Link Interns, Retired Pastor Bill Stephens, the Rev. Russell Brown, a Church of the Resurrection Congregational Care Pastorate Pastor, and me.

Each service uses the same Order of Worship, which is written in large print and handed to each congregant. Old, familiar hymns, Scripture, a message that is appropriate for the level of care of the congregation, The Lord's Prayer and Communion are a part of each service. The message is tailored to the worship needs of each congregation, with the independent living messages incorporating a higher degree of theology and the dementia services relying more on storytelling that shares the message of "Jesus loves you" and "Even if you forget God, God never forgets you." It is not uncommon to see people's eyes light up and their lips begin to move to the old hymns and familiar Scripture, to say The Lord's Prayer when they are often otherwise unable to speak, and weep when receiving Communion. We incorporate reminiscence stories to help trigger fond memories and sight, sound and smell references to assist in opening up past worship memories. We intentionally order the services with short varying segments of music, prayer, and speaking to maintain attention. Our monthly Order of Worship is available for download at: www.cor.org/programs-ministries/care/silverlink.

Once a month, Silver Link hosts a Special Worship Service in Wesley Covenant Chapel so the frail can come to church and worship. Members of our church family as well as many care homes attend. On Christmas Eve this year, two services were offered specifically for older adults at Church of the Resurrection, an intergenerational service in the Sanctuary officiated by Senior Pastor Adam Hamilton and a Special Worship Service for the frail in Wesley Covenant Chapel.

Members of our church family or their extended family who are unable to worship in their facility or at church are visited, offered Communion and share The Lord's Prayer with the volunteer. Many are a part of our Silver Link Prayer Team and receive a list of people to pray for and a devotion in the mail each week so they can continue to serve others and grow in their faith. All are encouraged to listen to Rev. Bill Stephen's Daily Devotion by telephone at 913-544-0234 or toll-free, 866-702-1585.

Silver Link staff and volunteers certainly receive great blessings from serving in this ministry and bringing the love of Christ to people in this stage of their life journey. One such blessing came from Virginia, who started coming to the Special Worship Service on her assisted living bus. She had macular degeneration and severe arthritis, and had been unable to go to her church for regular worship. Last April, she sat on the front row and sang along to "His Eye is on the Sparrow" and "Jesus Loves Me" (UMH #191), heard Scripture read from 1 Peter 1:3-9 and John 14:18-21 and a message about faith and trust in God, prayed The Lord's Prayer, and received Communion. After the service, Virginia returned to her assisted living and called her daughter, telling her how thankful she was for being able to attend worship. Virginia passed away in her sleep that night, and we had the honor of officiating at her funeral. The family found great peace in knowing Virginia had worshiped on the very day of her death. The Silver Link staff found joy in having ministered to Virginia, and all the others, through the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Karla Woodward, United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, Leawood, Kansas, For more information you may contact her by e-mail at karla.woodward@cor.org.

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